Dear Friends,
I have shared some of the following before, but I am compelled to share more of the motivation of producing iBIBLE. Please take a few minutes to read, as it is important to understand the vision, purpose, and mandate that I believe God gave me.
In late 2015, I had a dream that I firmly believe was from God. In the dream, God said He had a project for me to do that was going to be very big in size. It would dramatically change Deb's and my life, and would impact the world. God emphasized again that it was a big project and ended by saying that I would be surprised who would support the efforts and equally surprised who would not.
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"Without a grasp of the Biblical Narrative, the Church is at risk of incorporating God into their own culture and belief system, thereby creating their own cultural Christianity."
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When I awoke, I immediately told Deb about the dream. It impacted me on many levels.
I had no idea what this "big project" was. And I knew, if the dream was of God, it would be revealed soon enough.
Over the course of the next year, and through prayer, I began to realize what God was asking me to do. And on Thanksgiving Day 2016, I had my answer and began to understand how critical this project was.
The mandate was clear: I was to produce a visual presentation of the entire Bible, and in narrative form, or what we now refer to as the Divine Narrative. Prior to this, I honestly didn't even understand what "narrative" really meant.
I then set out on a mission to understand the Biblical Narrative, why it is important, and to research which resources currently existed. I also began to speak with Bible scholars and mission agencies. What I learned was shocking. Here are the major points:
- Without a grasp of the Biblical Narrative, the Church is at risk of incorporating God into their own culture and belief system, thereby creating their own cultural Christianity. Sound familiar?
- While church growth is at a record high in many nations around the world, church closures or churches departing from the core tenants of Christianity are nearly as high. The reason? Lack of teaching and discipleship (i.e., the lack of a complete understanding of God's redemptive plan).
- With the difficulties of understanding the Old Testament and the idea that it does not "fit" well into current American culture, more and more Christian leaders are advocating "discarding" the Old Testament and focusing purely on the Gospels, claiming the Old Testament has become a "stumbling block" to those seeking Christ.
- Finally, and more alarming, no complete narrative of the Bible currently exists, visual or otherwise.
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"Many people look at the iBIBLE and see Bible stories. And they are correct, but it is so much more than that. It is every significant event revealed in Scripture, written using the actual Scriptures, with no added characters, dialogue, or background stories."
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There are many excellent Bible resources, including videos, that highlight Biblical characters, individual stories, and books of the Bible. However, a comprehensive narrative does NOT exist.
We define the Divine Narrative as: All the individual events of Scripture that connect together, chronologically, and make up the single cohesive story of God's plan to redeem and restore mankind.
This is what iBIBLE will accomplish and what God called me to do.
Many people look at the iBIBLE and see Bible stories. And they are correct, but it is so much more than that. It is every significant event revealed in Scripture, written using the actual Scriptures, with no added characters, dialogue, or background stories. The script will be approximately 100,000 words, and our ONLY reference is the Bible.
iBIBLE will be the first visual and interactive presentation of the Divine Narrative.
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"Together we can revolutionize how people around the world, young and old, in America and on the front lines of missions, engage with God's Word. "
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We are currently redesigning our website, diligently programming the first version of the App, working on completing the animation for Genesis, and speaking with ministries across the U.S. and the world to share in this new revolution in reaching the world for Christ. Most are being very supportive and eager to help, and some are not.
While God gave me the vision, He also knew there was no way I could accomplish this alone. He has surrounded me with an initial team of more than 30 team leaders, animators, programmers, support staff and volunteers to make this a reality. God is also bringing financial and prayer partners like you to help keep production underway and provide a spiritual covering as we face the forces of darkness.
Together we can revolutionize how people around the world, young and old, in America and on the front lines of missions, engage with God's Word. The iBIBLE will also be free to translate in any of today's 7,000+ living languages. iBIBLE will break the distribution, translation, and literacy barriers currently facing world missions. The iBIBLE cannot be confiscated, is free to the world, and free to reproduce over and over again.
Is God calling you to help support iBIBLE with your prayers and financial resources? I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to respond to this email. I cannot respond to every message, but I do read all comments.
Thank you for standing with us! Have a blessed Sunday.
Steve Cleary
RevelationMedia
CEO/Founder
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